Nehemiah 2:5-6

2:5 and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined ¹  and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.” 2:6 Then the king, with his consort ²  sitting beside him, replied, “How long would your trip take, and when would you return?” Since the king was amenable to dispatching me, ³  I gave him a time.

Nehemiah 8:10

8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. ⁴  Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Nehemiah 13:21

13:21 But I warned them and said, ⁵  “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you repeat this, I will forcibly remove you!” ⁶  From that time on they did not show up on the Sabbath. ⁷ 

[2:5]  ¹ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good.” So also in v. 7.

[2:6]  ² tn Or “queen,” so most English versions (cf. HALOT 1415 s.v. שֵׁגַל); TEV “empress.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “It was good before the king and he sent me.”

[8:10]  ³ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[13:21]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text includes the words “to them,” but they have been excluded from the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will send a hand on you.”

[13:21]  ⁶ sn This statement contains a great deal of restrained humor. The author clearly takes pleasure in the effectiveness of the measures that he had enacted.